Ford Valencia job cuts loom before plant’s future is secure

Ford’s European plants in Cologne (Germany), Craiova (Romania) and Kocaeli (Turkey) have had their future model allocations in place for some time; Saarlouis, also in Germany, is closing soon, unless a last-minute buyer is found. Meanwhile the Valencia plant in Spain faces short-term uncertainty as it waits for the start of production a new model in around 2027. The Spanish plant used to be one of the company’s highest volume factories outside Detroit with a nominal capacity of 450,000 upa, not that this has ever been used. In fact, its product range has steadily been cut back in recent years, production volumes have fallen: production of the Mondeo ended in 2022, while the S-Max and Galaxy MPVs and Transit Connect small van finished production in late 2023; the new Transit Connect sub-compact van is now made in a Volkswagen factory in Poland.